The mission begins with a tour of a
crypt on the CamVator, an innovative moving platform on which you are carried
about in the scene. You can look around, but you can't touch.
The introduction is very effective, creepy, and has a nice narration by
MsLedd. The story begins to unfold as you sit back and watch. It's
like watching a movie. A good movie. The main objective of
the mission is revealed slowly. Your role will come later...

The Seventh Crystal is divided into
four Acts, separate missions that follow one another. Acts 1
and 4 are passive -- long cut scenes using the dark engine and the CamVator.
These introduce the story and portray its ending. Most
of the action is in Act 2, a mansion heist with story-driven objectives,
the main objective being to get the crystal. The story and the
objectives go hand in hand, each evolving and revealing one another
as you read letters and poems and listen to conversations. The story and
the game are nicely orchestrated. Act 3 is a short romp through the
crypt with a great surprise ending.

The first impressions on starting Act
2 is "Wow!". You are dropped into an area with a beautiful
view of Lord Saturnine's mansion. It is snowing. It is
dark and cold. Then you find some really nasty guards. Panic
strikes. Can I handle this!? Eventually you do handle it,
and by the time you find a safer place, your heart is pumping and you
are expecting the worse. What unfolds from there is a tour of a
magnificent mansion and a fine story.

The story

I liked the story a lot. It is
a character-driven drama about how the relationship of a happy couple
was destroyed by the loss of a child. Each reacted differently,
and they grew apart. Along with this is a plot of infidelity and
betrayal with several twists, including some treasure hunting and a Hitchcock
ending .

The revelation of the story through
letters placed in the mission is a work of art. Initially, you see
evidence of discontent. Then you learn more about the characters
and some recent unfortunate events. When Act 2 is nearly complete,
you finally learn about the private thoughts of Lord Saturnine and his wife
before and after the loss of their child. The story changes from interesting
to sad. Finally, the betrayals are revealed, and you know that it
could have all been avoided. Lord Saturnine is a tragic figure.
This quality of writing is a distinct departure from the usual Thief story
of Evil Lord unleashing monsters and Garrett saving the day.

Of course, a dramatic story may not
be everyone's cup of tea. Some might think it is too mushy and would
prefer more action. OK, that's fine. This is one reviewer's opinion.

Visuals

The Seventh Crystal is a visually stunning
mission. It has great architecture that is realistic, functional,
and very pretty to look at. Check the screen shots! I
note that the celings are made of wood, plaster, or fabric, all realistic
treatments. Too often, some designers tend to use impossible structures,
like a flat stone ceiling. The appearance is accentuated by ornate,
custom textures and rich colors, heavy in reds and purples. Lord Saturnine's
wealth and ostentatious behavior stands out clearly, even without the books
and letters to back it up. The snow scenes at the entrance and interior
courtyard are pretty, yet cold and forbidding. That is, except for
that nice fire outside in front of the mansion, warming those friendly guards.
:) The moonlit exteriors and the moonlight through the stained glass
windows are very well done.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere goes along with the visuals
- an opulent and realistic setting. The lighting is very good,
with dark areas mixed nicely with light areas. The dark hallways have
an attractive blue moonlight shining through the windows, a pleasing contrast
to the warm, well-lit areas. You can catch your breath in the
dark areas, relax, and enjoy the ambient light. Not so the mostly
well lit areas, where you must use good timing or a well planned route.
Some hallways have hiding places, but others do not.

In version 2 of the mission, the voice
of a ghost child is heard in several places. She chides Garrett
for stealing, which is very funny. The ghost child adds both a
creepy aspect and humor -- a welcome addition. A scene in the child's
nursery was extremely well done, including a tear jerking letter from the
mother and ghostly toys.

The crypt below the house, which you
explore in Act 3, is suitably creepy. The "secret" area down
there is, well, let us just say, very interesting....

There is a problem with sound propagation
that is mildly annoying. In some places at least, sounds can
be heard clearly between the first and second floors, so, if you are hiding
and depending on sound to tell you when the coast is clear, you may stay
frozen in your tracks for a while. This adds to the fear factor, but
it is a little frustrating not to know when the threat is real. In some
other places, the sound does not propagate where it should, like through a
curtain.

Gameplay

The mission requires hunting for several
keys in order to move the story along in the right sequence. Quite
a few people have found the key hunting and the locked doors confusing,
particularly in version 1, where some of the keys were on moving guards.
The gameplay has been made much smoother in version 2 by placing
all of the keys in fixed locations. This makes it more straightforward
to find your way around. Key hunting is still a challenge, however.
This may be good or bad, depending on your style. I happen
to like these hunts and finding my way, so I had no problems with it.

I believe that the mission is best played
in sneaksie fashion, as there are just too many guards to win a
fight, and their hearing is pretty good, so they usually come running
from far away. The mission is an excellent ghosting mission, that is,
sneaking without causing any alerts. The AI are well tuned. Sensitive
guards, frequent patrols, and well lit areas make it a challenge, but
all of the challenges can be overcome. It is possible to ghost the
entire mission and obtain 100% loot, but there are a few tricky spots.
Of course, the blackjack is always available if sneaking is too
difficult or tedious. I have BJ'ed
them all as well.

If you are a loot hound like I am, you
should know that in versions 1 and 2 of the mission the maximum loot
listed for Act 2 is too high by 200. The correct total for Act 2
is 2103. This is a result of splitting Act 2 and 3 (required by a limitation
of Dromed) and not adjusting the loot total in Act 2. I spent hours
hunting for nonexistent loot and finally confirmed my suspicion by e-mailing
the author. In addition, three of the "possible" pickpockets are impossible
to obtain because the items are located on unconscious bodies.

Replayability

The mission is well worth replaying,
simply because it is so good. Perhaps, like me, you will find
the story more interesting the second time through after the routes are
better known. However, you should know that there is very little
difference between skill levels. Normal and Hard both allow killing
of guards but not innocents, and Expert does not allow any killing. Unlike
some other recent missions, you will not find different objectives, areas,
or play sequences in the different skills. Other than killing limitations
and initial health points, the three skills are exactly the same.

Originality

The use of the CamVator and the animated
cut scenes is a breakthrough in mission development. This method
of constructing cut scenes is much more interesting and appealing than
the cartoonish AVI files we usually see. I should mention that the
CamVator can get stuck. Do not save and reload in the middle of Act
1 or Act 4, or it is likely to stop and/or sink to the wrong location.
Also, do not hit the Pause key. The sequence needs to run straight
through.

Highly Recommended!

WHO WOULD LIKE THIS MISSION?

Someone who enjoys a good short story
or drama should like this mission. Moviegoers should find it very
enjoyable and might wish they could see its rendition in film. If
you prefer to avoid the reading material, you would miss a lot, and I
am not sure it would make any sense. If you like to explore, sneak
about in the shadows, eavesdrop on conversations, and find the secrets
to unlocking doors, this mission is for you. On the other hand, you
will not find really dangerous situations, climbing and jumping, undead,
monsters, or difficult mathematical puzzles.

WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID

Nightwalker: "The movies are absolutely
stunning. The architecture is very pleasing to the eye and
I personally really liked the storyline a lot. The added little ghostly
whispers were pure genius, as was the nursery scene."

Keeper of Metal and Gold: "You all MUST
play this mission(s)! It is extraordinarily impressive, a very
nice piece of work with some amazing scripting to pull off the 'cinematics'
which are sooooooo cool!"

Clayman: "gold"

Ricknmel (commenting on version 1): The
Seventh Crystal was prolly the hardest, most confusing, most "wandering
around clueless", most "what should I even be looking for?", most "how am
I supposed to get there?", most "that doesn't make any sense", type of mission
I've ever played ... but ... it's also the absolute #1 Favorite of mine I've
ever played.

RATING THE MISSION

The scoring is on the "digi" scale, averaging
values of 1-10 in various categories. Also included are bonus and
penalty points based on my personal reaction. This rating should
not be strictly compared to older missions. There has been a
considerable amount of compression at the high end of mission scoring lately,
and it is difficult to make accurate comparisons based on score alone.
The words of this review are more important than the score.

Visuals: 10 -- Great architecture and
textures. Very ornate appearance. Nicely furnished. Could
be the most impressive looking mansion that has been developed to date.
Outdoor scenes with snow look pretty and cold.

Atmosphere: 9 -- Realistic and very impressive.
Good use of lighting. Cut scenes provide an excellent,
cinematic experience. The ghost of the child provides both a creepy
and a humorous touch. Some other missions may provide a greater
feeling of dread.

Story: 10 -- The story is excellent.
It is a high quality, character-driven story with a lot of
nuances, not your usual evil-lord-turns-monster type of thing. Surprise
ending and follow-up. Story dominates the mission and draws the
player in. Very good writing and poetry. Some might regard
it as too mushy. I did not. On second playing I became immersed
in the story and found it to be an emotional experience. The story
also related nicely to the game play and provided good clues.

Gameplay: 8 -- Realistic, fun, and satisfying,
but the key hunting is a little confusing to some. A sneaker.
Mission is excellent for ghosting, but it can also be played BJ
style. The AI are well tuned to be somewhat difficult but not extremely
so. Hunting for keys has been simplified in version 2 -- they are
all in fixed locations, not on moving targets. Finding routes to places
is a challenge but not overly so. Strategic use of keys forces one
to play in the correct sequence. Some players may notice a slight lack
of excitement plus a somewhat linear gameplay forced by the story.